I’m not sure if there’s something called “freedom of press” in Pakistan if the sole criterion to determine this is the anti-India editorials/articles it carries. The Dawn blames India for the postponement of the SAARC summit. And expresses its concern for another rising star in terrorism, Bangladesh.

This is the fifth time that India has been the cause of a Saarc summit postponement… the official reason given by New Delhi for its decision was the security situation in its “neighbourhood”… This is an affront to Bangladesh, which has spent 160 million takas on the summit.

Ha! Does the writer clarify why or how this is an “affront?” And what follows is more hilarious.

Press reports say that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not wish to sit at the same forum with King Gyanendra, who has declared an emergency in his kingdom… The argument does not hold much water, because in every Saarc summit Indian leaders had no qualms about sitting with the king of Bhutan, which is far behind Nepal in terms of political development.

Bhutan has had a history of being a peaceful state… no military adventures, wars with neighbours, etc. In fact, for a state of its size, Bhutan displayed remarkable courage in kicking out terrorists recently. And the fact that Bhutan has a special treaty relationship with India adds to this writer’s scorn. Also the fact that our friendly General has been sending feelers to King Gyanendra adds anti-India fuel.

And the author naturally absolves Bangladesh of all its crimes. India has “wrongly accused” Bangladesh of infiltration, that it should sort out the issue of terrorist training camps politically instead of blaming Bangladesh, etcetera.

India does not enjoy good relations with Bangladesh, too, and accuses it of harbouring infiltrators, who allegedly have training camps for terrorists… India could deal with them politically and sort the problem out instead of blaming Bangladesh for its troubles.

I normally don’t read Pakistani news websites for their sheer predictability but a diversion is good once in a while.

Tags: Commentary, Terrorism & Pakistan